VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations, and Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force Roger A. Towberman spoke with Airmen and Guardians during a visit March 11, 2021, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
While at Vandenberg AFB, Raymond and Towberman were briefed by Guardians from various units across the installation and hosted a town hall for Airmen and Guardians to thank them for all of their work in helping to stand up the Space Force, and to provide updates on upcoming initiatives and answer questions from both a live and virtual audience.
During the town hall, Raymond and Towberman spoke about the crucial role the Space Force plays in national security and in support of the joint force, and emphasized the need to pursue integration of space at every level.
“There is nothing we do as a nation that is not enabled by space,” said Raymond. “It underpins every instrument of national power – our national security, our economy and our ability to explore. It’s very clear that access to space and freedom to maneuver in space is a vital national interest.”
In his opening comments Raymond highlighted some of the new service’s many achievements throughout its first 14 months such as publishing its foundational doctrine, submitting an independent budget, and growing the service from just one member — Raymond himself when Space Force was established on Dec. 20, 2019 — to more than 4,300 today.
“When we created the Space Force, we really throttled up; it’s incredible what we have accomplished together,” said Raymond. “We’ve built all of the processes to bring Guardians into the service, completed the largest single reorganization in the history of the national security space enterprise, effectively removing two layers of command, and we slashed bureaucracy in order to move faster.”
The Space Force has also overhauled its approach to training and developing Guardians to mold them into a more lean, empowered, and agile force capable of harnessing innovation and delivering new capabilities at operationally relevant speeds.
Some of the first enlisted members to experience the new Basic Military Training Space curriculum tailor-made for Guardians were in attendance as they near graduation from the revamped technical school located at Vandenberg. They were able to catch up with Raymond and Towberman after the town hall and left the meeting with well wishes for their careers and autographs on their Spacepower doctrine books.
“I am excited to see what these young Guardians will do in their careers,” Towberman said. “Our Space Force is in good hands.”